Charles III begins his first visit to Kenya on Tuesday, with a strong sentimental dimension, as king in a Commonwealth country, at a time when this institution appears to be weakened and when calls are increasing for the United Kingdom to confront its colonial past. Kenya is particularly linked to the history of the royal family: it is there that in 1952, Elizabeth II learned of the death of her father, King George VI, making her the new sovereign of the United Kingdom.
The visit of Charles III and Queen Camilla will take place a few weeks before the East African country celebrates the 60th anniversary of its independence, proclaimed on December 12, 1963. The royal couple will be welcomed on Tuesday by President William Ruto in the capital Nairobi. For two days, he must meet entrepreneurs and young people, participate in a state banquet, visit a new museum dedicated to the history of Kenya and lay a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier in the Uhuru gardens. .
“Mission to save the Commonwealth”
Then, Charles and Camilla must go to Mombasa (south), where the king, attached to environmental issues, will notably visit a nature reserve and meet representatives of various religions. After having illustrated London’s desire for rapprochement with its European allies with his state visits to Germany and France, Charles III, on the throne for a little over a year, launched his “mission to save the Commonwealth” in Kenya. », underlined the daily Daily Mail.
This institution brings together 56 countries, most of them former British colonies, and among them, 15 kingdoms (including the United Kingdom, Australia, the Bahamas, Canada and New Zealand) still having the monarch as head of state. ‘State. But in some of them, the idea of becoming a Republic, like Barbados in 2021, is gaining ground, as in Jamaica and Belize.
Elizabeth II, who made a state visit to Kenya in 1983, “was very attached to the Commonwealth and I imagine the British government expected the king to have a similar approach and try to promote it and to preserve its unity,” says Poppy Cullen, historian at the University of Cambridge.
A crackdown on the British Empire
For London, this visit to Kenya is an opportunity to “show an independent republic within the Commonwealth, which still benefits from its relationship with the United Kingdom”, and to present it perhaps as “a potential model for d “other” countries, adds the historian interviewed by AFP.
It “illustrates the depth of our relations and our partnership with shared benefits”, underlined President Ruto on X (ex-Twitter) ahead of the visit of Charles III. The history between the two countries is not devoid of dark moments such as the repression of the Mau Mau revolt, which left more than 10,000 dead between 1952 and 1960, mainly from the Kikuyu community, one of the most severe repressions. bloodshed of the British Empire.
After years of litigation, London agreed in 2013 to compensate more than 5,000 Kenyans, but some are waiting for the king to issue a formal apology for Britain’s past actions. Even today, the presence of British soldiers arouses tensions and the Kenyan Parliament recently launched an investigation targeting the British army.
Excuses ?
This visit will be an opportunity to discuss “the most painful aspects” of the history between the two countries and Charles III “will take the time (…) to deepen his understanding of the wrongs suffered in this period by the Kenyan people,” assured Buckingham Palace ahead of his visit. While the royal family has been accused of racism by Charles’ daughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, the king has already shown a desire for appeasement since his accession to the throne.
Other visits by royals to former colonies have caused a stir. In the Caribbean last year, Prince William and Kate were called to apologize for the United Kingdom’s slavery past. These comments “generated a lot of expectations about what this could mean. Will he apologize? », Estimates Poppy Cullen.
“His words will be listened to very carefully”, and probably beyond Kenya, notes the historian: “All the former colonies will watch (this move). If the king apologizes or expresses regret for the colonial period in Kenya (…) it will create a sort of precedent.”